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Everything you always wanted to know about France - from France |
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On all the rentals websites I have designed I have always demanded that availability calendars are shown, but addresses are hidden. The reason is to protect the property from being robbed when it was empty. A villa left empty for weeks or months is a target for gangs, in any country. But times are changing and breaking into an empty vacation home does not offer good pickings for thieves. Video players and HiFis are no longer valuable commodities, you can buy a new television in the supermarket for 100 euro and owners will not be leaving money or valuables in an empty house. Empty homes are broken into, damage is done but this is not usually expensive, although it is always a very unpleasant experience. However, when properties are rented to vacationers they are becoming very attractive targets for thieves who operate in the vacation season. A recent, very worrying, development is the use of canisters of gas sprayed into air vents and ventilation systems to "knock out" sleeping tourists and then rob them. This has become publicised when mobile home owners pull into parking areas overnight in Spain, it is thought to be spreading into many other countries. Getting information is proving hard as many statistics do not differentiate from permanent residents and tourists for these crimes. I was once a consultant for computer security with high level access to the banking systems in London. Having been cleared to go into the computer center of one of the worlds leading banks and sitting in a missile proof control room costing squillions of pounds sterling, with over 200 people working there, I pointed out I could immobilise the whole complex and probably kill everyone in under ten minutes simply by one small device in the air conditioning plant, all of which was sited on the roof - a week and a few million pounds later, it was moved somewhere less exposed. My point is that we must all be aware of the risks and realistic about what we can do to minimise these. Owners should make sure their properties have the best security and protection - visitors should guard their persons and possessions carefully - advertising should make it difficult for criminals to find information about occupancy, location or access. I have some ideas how to protect the information about the properties and renters through the Internet advertising and will encourage this to be put on the web sites I am involved with. Here is a recent mail form an owner which has triggered these notes... === Hi Tony, My property was robbed twice during rentals (last year and the year before) I would advise all owners not to use online calendars as it is uncanny that they only strike when tenants are there. How do they know that for sure? They left my stuff alone - only going for PC, jewelry and Credit cards. We need to install room safes as they are usually sneak thieves not hold up artists, but people have been tied up and robbed by armed gangs too. Police do sweet nothing. Some people are sure they are using gas in air conditioning to stop people waking up. It's bad around here Cheers Gary === Hi Gary Very good point, in under two minutes on Google, I had your address, a map of your area, photos of your property showing potential access points and a calendar showing when renters are there. You do have a wall safe mentioned on one site, but this did not deter two attacks, when was this fitted? But these safes are usually very small and cameras, laptops etc cannot fit in. From the prices asked it would suggest that your renters are comfortable Americans. I have always been concerned that a calendar will show crooks when a property is empty - but modern times suggest that a home occupied by vacationers will be a much more lucrative target. The video is worth nothing now, I can buy one for 50 euro anywhere, but vacationers carry cash, jewelry, credit cards and top of the range laptops, cameras and watches. Mobile homes have been targeted by gas attacks to knock out the residents when they are sleeping, I have had several reports of theft using this, it is a simple step to use this in air conditioning I suppose. I will recommend that to access an availability calendar any potential renter must register and have their email verified - I will think of a way to design sites to make enquiries more secure. Best wishes Tony There are over 2,000 features and articles on this site about French life and living in France. You can search from the search box above. Do browse through our website and please use the advertising links, they help pay for the site. I do try to reply to all mail - Contact Me - most is about property or living in France. I publish comments in this newsletter which I believe are of interest and may help find answers for people wanting to come to France. I hope readers will go to the adverts which help support our overheads. |
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